Sales of school kits increased before the new 2009-10 school-year, but students and their parents have favoured Vietnamese school supplies this year.

Students browse through books in Dien Bien Phu City. Customers are turning to locally produced school kits because of their higher quality, attractive packaging and competitive prices.

Prices of school equipment have increased 10-15 per cent, with stationery shops blaming it on increasing costs of paper, plastic and other materials.

Customers are now turning to domestically produced school kits because of their high quality, attractive packaging and competitive prices.

Chinese goods today are no longer selling well and most students prefer Vietnamese products like Thien Long pens and Vinh Tien notebooks.

Pham Quy The, head of the Viet Nam Book Company’s stationery division said since July the company had sold items worth VND2-3 billion (US$110,000-165,000), an increase of 30 per cent over previous months.

Major book shops in big cities of Ha Noi, HCM City are busy selling text books and school supplies these days. The shops have increased their working shifts to meet the increasing demand just before the new school year.

In late July and early August, the Hong Ha Stationery Co in Ha Noi sold out 35 million text books and notebooks.

0ther school supplies including school bags, pens, colour pencils and blackboards have also seen slight increases in sales volume and prices.

Supermarkets and bookshops have also launched promotion campaigns since late July, offering 400 products for a discount to mark the opening day of the new school year.

School bag makers this school year have designed shoulder types to fit the average height of primary school students in response to health concerns expressed by educators and parents.

Over the past few years, many educators and parents had complained that school children, especially those attending primary school, are being forced to carry heavy school bags disproportionate to their height and strength everyday. They said this could harm the health of their young wards.

Most companies have increased production of light school bags or school bags on wheels so it would be more convenient for children to carry them. They said production of such school bags had increased from 30-100 per cent compared with the past year, but the supply still lagged far behind rising demand.

VietNamNet/VNS